A Matter Of Time
by The Midnight Man
Summary: While the five original Rangers are away on a case, the remaining new recruits stumble upon one of their own - and an unconscious mouse with a background they would hardly be able to imagine.
1. The Mouse In The River

**Chapter 1: The Mouse In The River**

_Dedicated to Deborah Walley_

_who gave Foxglove and Lawhiney their voices,_

_and who passed away on May 10, 2001,_

_seven years ago today._

_You will never be forgotten, Deb._

The sky was gray and cloudy on that late April morning. It was not exactly stormy, yet the wind was strong enough to tear a few rare holes into the thick layer of clouds above the city. All that was positive about the weather was that another winter was over, and that it wasn't as cold as a month or two ago. However, it was still a bit chilly due to the wind. Even though it had stopped raining hours ago, the three small animals strolling along the riverside could have chosen a better day to spend the morning outside.

"Come to think we'll have to do that one day, too," LaWahini complained. Her sister Gadget and the other five original Rescue Rangers were on their sixth case in a row. The new spring had brought crime back to the city, and the weather apparently added to the gruesomeness with which human and animal crooks were doing what they had declared their businesses. "That is, Tammy, you'd probably spend most of your time at the infirmary."

"Only if a case takes place in the city, LaWahini," the squirrel maid replied. "Chip said that when a case takes the Rangers farther away from here, the whole team will have to travel. Especially a mobile infirmary will be necessary."

"Well, Ladies," Foxglove said, "then let's enjoy the easy days until Chip says we're ready for the harder casework."

"Didn't you say you are ready, Foxy?" Tammy asked. "Didn't you say you'd accompany Dale on whatever case he'd have to work on?"

"That's what I said, yes." The reddish bat exhaled audibly. "But I took back what I said after the fourth case in a row and chose something easier to do."

LaWahini smirked. "Such as going on curing Mom's bat phobia?"

"C'mon, that's not funny. Especially not when you're the bat."

"By the way," the blond mouse in the blue dress inquired, "how's it going ahead?"

"Pretty well, LaWahini. We'll go to the zoo again today, and she said she might be ready for visiting the bat cave I told her about this weekend. Dale promised he'd fly us there with the Rangerplane, but I don't know if he'll be on another case then."

Tammy suggested, "You can still ask my sister. Gadget said she can fly the Rangerplane without her assistance now. There are still a few things she'd have to learn, though."

"Oh, right," Foxglove remembered, "the flying lessons. Guess if we ever have a tenth Ranger, it'll be Bink." She snickered. "Interesting thought. One half of the Rangers would be girls then. Come to think that only half a year ago Gadget was the only female in the team."

"Um," LaWahini interjected, "in case you've forgotten, Dad's the greatest animal pilot alive, and we're talking about his wife being cured."

"In case you have forgotten," Foxglove explained, "your mother insisted in going through the therapy without her husband's help."

"Right, she wanted it the hard way..."

As the three new Rangers walked on, LaWahini took a glance across the water. The river was nothing even remotely like the Pacific Ocean, but whether she wanted or not, it reminded her quite a bit of Hawaii, the place where she had spent most of her life. Suddenly she spotted something which caught her interest. "Ladies, what do you think is floating out there?"

"Why?" Tammy asked briefly.

"Because I thought for a moment it looks like a mouse."

"Hm, now that you mention it, it does look like a mouse. Foxy, can you tell us what it's made of?"

Foxglove took a look to the object on the river's surface. "The wind and the waves are too loud, I can't hear my own ping response. Wait a second." She spread her wings and took off, slightly struggling against the wind. After a moment in the air, she touched down again. She had turned so pale that it was visible underneath her facial fur.

"Foxy, aren't you well?" Tammy worried. "What's up?"

"It is a mouse..." After taking a deep breath, Foxglove spoke a brief and quick, "Excuse me," and lifted herself into the air again, this time heading for the motionless rodent on the river.

LaWahini watched her flutter and fight the wind. "What's she doing?"

"Rescuing that mouse, of course!" Tammy answered. "She's a Rescue Ranger, that's her job."

Above the river, Foxglove descended to the mouse. The fact that he was floating with his face up and out of the water hardly relieved her, and the gusts tossing her about and the waves making the mouse tumble and harder to get didn't make her task easier either. She had to fly a number of approaches until she finally got a hold of his shoulders. However, his clothes were soaked with so much water and made him so heavy that lifting him up was out of question, so Foxglove flew a bit back, stood upon his chest, and dragged him forward towards the shore, taking care not to apply too much pressure to his body.

"Tammy! LaWahini!" she shouted as she approached her teammates. "Come and help me here!" The two rodents stepped into the water, and as soon as Foxglove had lain the mouse down on the shore and flown off him, Tammy grabbed him by the shoulders, LaWahini took his feet, and they carried him out of the water. Now they were able to take a closer look at him.

He was in his twenties, and with all the water in them, his bright fur and blond hair seemed darker than they actually were. He was tall, strong and athletic, yet not as buff as Shaka Baka, LaWahini figured. Yet she somehow felt attracted to him. He wore a silver-gray shirt tucked into a pair of long dark gray pants.

Tammy checked him. "We're glad, he's still alive, albeit weak."

"Poor guy," LaWahini said. "I hope he'll be okay." She removed some hair from his face.

"He's handsome, huh?" Foxglove gave her a wink.

"What do you mean with this?"

"Aw c'mon, don't think I haven't noticed how you're staring at him. Competition for a certain lab rat, I guess. Well, I must admit there is some resemblance between the two of them."

LaWahini's heart missed a beat. "You... I... I mean..."

"LaWahini, I'm none of these oblivious guys. I watched Gadget fall for Chip after Dale and I became an issue. I easily watched Dale fall for me. And I watched you fall for Sparky. And now this. Not to mention that he's probably some fifteen years younger than you."

"Can we discuss this later?" Tammy interrupted them. "We've got an unconscious mouse in wet clothes, it's windy and chilly, which means that our mission isn't over until he's all warm and dry." She picked the mouse up again, and so did LaWahini.

"It'll be much easier if you help us carry him to the Headquarters, Foxy," the former Hawaiian mouse remarked.

"Sure." Foxglove grasped the stranger by his waist with her feet and held his mid-section up as she hovered above the ground.

With their forces joined, the three Rescue Ranger recruits brought him to their Headquarters as quickly as they could. But, when they arrived by the roots of the tall oak tree, they realized that the toughest part was still ahead of us. "Any idea of how to get him up there?" LaWahini asked.

She and Tammy both turned to Foxglove. "No way," the bat said, "I'm not gonna fly him up there."

"Says the bat who can carry a brick if necessary," Tammy commented. "Don't you think it is necessary right now?"

"Okay, I'll give it a try. Step aside."

With her feet on the mouse's shoulders, Foxglove started flapping. The more of his weight was taken off the ground and rested on the bat, the harder it became for her to carry him. While she frantically flapped her wings and made it up the tree bit by bit, inch by inch, Tammy climbed along with her, making sure she doesn't get into trouble. Meanwhile, LaWahini stayed on the ground in case something happened.

"Is it still far?" Foxglove asked Tammy halfway up the trunk.

"You don't really wanna know, do you?"

"Go ahead, tell me!"

"Alright, half the distance is behind you."

"You mean below me..."

"Think you're gonna make the other half, too, Foxy?"

Foxglove gritted her teeth. "Do I have a choice?" She wheezed and spoke on. "From this height, I could turn LaWahini into a flower-printed flapjack with no problems, what with all this payload!" She wheezed again. "Besides, you'd have more to do on this guy if he fell all the way down."

"Not to mention the concussions on your head when you dash upward and hit the branches. Say, you want me to shut up and let you fly?"

"No, go on entertaining me. Distract me." Even for a squirrel, the sarcastic undertone was easy to notice.

"Okay." Tammy climbed up another bit. "Foxy, now that LaWahini's, um, sweet little secret is revealed, what shall we do about it?"

"What about a bit of matchmaking? That hobby of yours?"

Tammy shook her head. "Nah, that didn't work on the detective and the super-brain, how do you think it shall work on the scientist and the super-brain's sister? Sparky's got a weak memory, but he's neither dumb nor oblivious!"

"Well, then let's keep it to ourselves for now. Looks like it'll be much easier for them than it was for Chip and Gadget."

"You're sure, Foxy? I mean, you've seen the looks LaWahini gave this dude here."

"You've got a point there, Tammy. It's up to Sparky to take the next step."

"And up to us to help our new client leave this place. Oh, Foxy, you've almost made it."

Foxglove looked upward and discovered the near platform in front of the Headquarters' main door. She gathered all that was left of her strength and pulled the mouse the remaining few inches upward. She managed to drag him over the railing before, much like him, she laid down flat on her back.

Tammy cheered, "Yay! You made it!"

As far as her exhaustion allowed her to speak, Foxglove replied, "Keep this to yourself, too, will you? I'm not the Rangercrane, y'know."

"Sure, if you want me to."

After she had seen Foxglove successfully carry the mouse up to the platform, LaWahini had climbed after her and Tammy. Now she arrived on the platform, too. "Keep what to yourself?"

"How much Foxy can carry if she has to. Oh, and you're not telling anyone either."

"My lips are sealed, Tammy. Now what shall we do with..." LaWahini motioned towards the still unconscious mouse.

"I'll get a stretcher," Tammy said. She opened the door and entered the main room. The television was on, and in front of it said a squirrel with two-tone fur and blond hair. She was wearing a brown aviator jacket, a matching pair of brown pants, a white shirt, and a couple of goggles similar to Monterey Jack's on her head. "Oh, hi Bink!" Tammy greeted her little sister. "Haven't I told you that Gadget's on a case?"

"No, sis," Bink answered, "apparently, you've forgotten it. Again." She waved to the front door. "Hi LaWahini, hi Foxy."

Foxglove couldn't believe what she saw. "Wait a second, Tammy. You mean you could've just told your sister to take the Rangerplane and fly the mouse up here?"

Tammy stopped immediately. This was embarrassing, let alone not nice to Foxglove. Sure she could have done that. "Bink, is the Rangerplane even here?"

"It's here, Tammy, and I've done four pre-flight checks out of sheer boredom while I was waiting for Gadget. Talking about whom, when she comes back, can someone tell her the TV's about to give out rather sooner than later?"

Tammy turned towards the still open door again. "Uhm... actually..."

"Actually," Foxglove replied, "next time I'll fly up here and check if there doesn't happen to be a pilot and an aircraft available at the Headquarters! Now go get the stretcher as long as I'm too weak to come after you, squirrel!" LaWahini giggled, and Foxglove hissed, "And you keep quiet, LaWahini. For you'll be the next pilot apprentice."

"You think so?"

"I think so. You're the only Hackwrench who can't pilot an aircraft. Yet."

The thought wasn't wholly unpleasant for LaWahini, though. After all, she already knew how to handle Dale's hang glider, and she liked flying it. She was about to mention her mother who wasn't a pilot either, but her mother wasn't a real Hackwrench, she just happened to be married with the flying legend Geegaw Hackwrench. And right now, the poor mouse lying in front of her on the platform sort of pleased her more than the thought of sitting in an aircraft behind countless gages and other instruments with the yoke and the lives of everyone aboard the craft in her hands. "LaWahini," she heard Tammy's voice call, "can you make some coffee for our guest?"

"Sure, I'm coming!"

LaWahini went, and Bink got up and came out to help Foxglove onto her feet. "Foxy, are you okay?"

"More or less, yes," Foxglove said, still a bit unstable. "Being a Rescue Ranger sometimes does wear you out. Enjoy being none, Bink, as long as you can."

Bink then noticed the mouse lying on the platform and the puddle of water around him. "Where've you found him?"

"He was floating in the river. We don't know yet who he is and where he comes from."

"Well, whoever he is, we'd better get him inside. I don't think it's good for him to lie outside in these wet clothes."

Bink was about to heave him up when her sister returned with a stretcher. "Oh, good, you can help me bring him to the infirmary, Bink."

Tammy placed the stretcher next to the mouse, and the two squirrels heaved him onto it and carried him through the Headquarters' hallways down to the infirmary. When they came past the kitchen, Tammy ordered, "LaWahini, tell Sparky we might need him at the infirmary. And tell him to get one of his night shirts." She gave Foxglove a wink, and the bat winked back.

A short while later, the remaining four Rescue Rangers plus Bink had gathered in the room in which the mouse was still lying on the stretcher.

"Okay," Tammy said, "next thing to do: Get him out of these wet clothes. He might get a cold if he wore them too long, and I don't want his bed to be soaked with water."

LaWahini stepped forward. "Allow me to make myself useful, Tammy..."

But Tammy held her back. "Nice try, Miss, but under the given circumstances I won't let you at him unless we haven't got an alternative."

"So why don't you do it yourself then? After all, you're the nurse."

"I'm female. Most of us are female. He's male. It's... inappropriate. So, any male voluntaries?"

"I take it this means me," Sparky responded. "What shall I do?"

"Undress him, dry his fur, put him into the night shirt, and place him in the bed."

"Alright. Now if you ladies please leave the room..."

The girls obeyed. LaWahini, however, stopped on her way out. "Wait. Did he wear insulating gloves or not?" She turned around and shouted in panic, "Sparky! No! Wait!!"


	2. Welcome To Whenever You Are

**Chapter 2: Welcome To Whenever You Are**

Edison's eyes sprung open. A split-second before, he had been unconscious, but the electric shock he had just received had woken him up quicker than any coffee would ever be able to. The first thing he saw was a being, a rodent, a rat in a white coat. This rat looked familiar, he remembered him of someone he knew, only that this someone was much older. And this someone was obviously the source of the shock. As a reaction, Edison pushed himself backwards on the stretcher. "Okay, okay, I'm alive and kicking, perfectly okay, no need to use the defibrillator on me."

"Oh, I'm very sorry," the rat apologized.

It was when he identified the rat's voice that Edison regained all his senses, including his common sense. He found himself on a stretcher which was as soaked as his clothes. He looked around and slowly began to identify the surroundings and realize the situation. The room he was in was definitely the Rescue Rangers Headquarters infirmary, but its equipment was primitive. In fact, he didn't expect anything different, maybe the total lack of an infirmary as he wasn't sure in which year it had been created. The rat was quickly identified, too. He was about two dozen years younger than how Edison remembered him, but he was still the same rat everyone called Sparky in his time—with the exception of himself who called him Dad.

'Calm down, Edison,' he thought. 'So the time machine works. That is, it worked well enough to get me here. But where is it now?' He remembered what had happened. He was flying around above New York City with the old Rangerwing which only served as a testing platform for all sorts of technologies in his time anymore. Newer and better aircraft, designed and crafted with the help of Ultra-Flite, had taken over its job. And there was this device on board which his father had claimed was a time machine. Of course, he didn't believe that it actually worked, simply because he didn't believe that time traveling was possible. To prove that he was right, he activated the device. Then he saw a flash, something big for a rodent appeared right in his way, and after his impact, everything went dark.

"Is everything okay with you?" Sparky asked.

Edison looked around once more. There was no doubt anymore that he was at the Rescue Rangers Headquarters. This place was his home. And as long as it existed, he knew, there had always been someone able to help him. But he still didn't feel all comfortable. He'd probably know everyone he'd meet at the Headquarters, although they would all be younger. But nobody knew him. And he decided that they should never find out who he was.

"Everything... okay..." he finally began to speak. "Well, except for the wet clothes."

"Oh... my... gosh..." Edison heard a familiar voice speak. "Sparky, you could've killed him!"

"Don't worry, LaWahini," Sparky replied. "See, he's awake."

The first to come back into the room was LaWahini. She wanted to see the handsome stranger and how he was doing. Edison was amazed when he saw her. 'Mom... You can bet it's nice to see you. Though it would be nicer if I could tell you. So it's true what they say about the way you used to dress. And you really don't age, just as they say, too.' LaWahini was quickly followed by Tammy, Bink, and Foxglove, all of who wanted to see the stranger, now that he was awake. He knew them all, too. 'Foxglove! Nice to see you here, looking the way you did when I was a toddler! Tammy, the youngest member of the first Ranger generation, and the ever-caring nurse of the team, what would we be without you? And Bink, you're a young woman! Bink who refused to become a Rescue Ranger as long as I can think. Well, that gave you enough spare time to babysit us Ranger kids when our parents were on a case.'

"How's our patient feeling?" Tammy asked. Her look told Edison she was talking to him.

"I... I'm okay so far. I'm a tough guy, don't worry about me." He did his best to get used to the fact that none of the Rangers, original or new, knew him, not even his own future parents.

"Tough or not," Tammy spoke on, "I strongly advise you to get rid of these wet clothes before you get ill." She picked up Sparky's night shirt and tossed it to Edison. "You can wear this as long as your clothes are drying."

"Thanks for your support and caring, Miss..." Edison pretended not to know Tammy. He felt awkward, but he had to do it.

"Tammy, Tammy Chesnutt. And your name is?"

He couldn't tell her his full name. "Eddy. You can call me Eddy." This had actually been his nickname since he was a kid.

"Eddy?" LaWahini wondered. "Is that all? Or is it short for Edward?" In her opinion, neither version really became him.

"It's short for Edison, to tell the truth." That much he could reveal.

"Edison, I take it you've got a last name, too," Tammy went on inquiring.

Before Edison could come up with an excuse, Sparky came to his help without knowing. "Maybe he hasn't got a last name, Tammy. I haven't got one either. Edison could also be his last name."

"No," Edison said, "it's indeed my first name. Now, Tammy and the others, if you want me to change into something dry, I have to request you to leave me alone for a few minutes."

"Sure. Come on, everybody, let's grant our guest some privacy." Tammy shoved everyone else out of the room and shut the door behind herself.

"Well, if someone needs me, I'm back in the lab," Sparky said and left the group of ladies.

Foxglove waited until he was out of earshot, then she addressed to LaWahini, careful that neither Sparky nor Edison could hear anything. "What's up with you? Can't you live without a secret crush?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hey, I'm not blind. Not even half an hour ago we learned about your hots for our lab rat. And now you're giving our patient that look..."

LaWahini tried to reassure Foxglove, "It's nothing." She didn't believe it herself, actually, but she tried to convince herself into believing it, at least for the time being. She wanted to hold things back until she got to know Edison a bit better, and especially until she knew if and when he'd leave again. "Nothing to worry about."

Tammy sighed. "Yeah, I know that 'nothing.' I think we'll need to be on the lookout on our cases and see if we might meet some handsome blond mouse or rat."

"I could fly ahead," Bink joked, "and direct you somewhere else when one comes in sight. Heh, so much about the term 'secret crush.'"

LaWahini crossed her arms. "I've got everything under control."

Foxglove commented, "If 'everything under control' is Hackwrenchian for 'not soaking your pillow with tears every second night for the love of your life that's out of reach when you should catch some sleep,' then yes, you've got 'everything under control' all right." She decided against mentioning how crazy she was about Dale back then. She figured that it must have been Shaka Baka who took the first step in LaWahini's case.

The sound of the front door opening interrupted the discussion. "We're back, everyone!" Monterey Jack's voice sounded through the tree. And despite Monty's seemingly never-ending strength, it also sounded exhausted.

Dale was the next to call. "Anyone here? Foxy?"

"I'm here, Dale!" Foxglove shouted back. "Tammy," she asked then, "just how many patients can you fit into the infirmary? That doesn't sound good to me."

"I could turn the whole Headquarters into an infirmary if need be," Tammy replied. "Space isn't as great an issue as personnel and, sooner or later, also equipment. I'd better go and have a look if they're just powered out, or if there's something more serious with them."

Foxglove followed her. "I'm coming with you. And so are you, LaWahini!"

LaWahini remarked, "Shall we really leave Edison alone?"

"What should he do?" Tammy asked. "Escape? If his choice of clothing consists of a nightgown and his own soaked clothes?"

"Besides," Foxglove added, "we can't leave you alone with him, you know why."

When the three Ranger ladies arrived in the main room, they found their five friends in a state they considered aptly described by bruised and battered. Nobody had any serious injuries, but they all looked like the last bit of strength had been sucked out of them. Chip and Gadget were supporting each other, and Monterey Jack was just barely strong enough to carry Dale on one shoulder and Zipper on the other.

Monty stumbled over to the semi-circular sofa and slipped down onto the seat, causing Dale to roll over forward. The chipmunk hit the on switch of the television with his big red nose and ricocheted backwards. He landed on his back and watched the television come alive. "Ah, TV. That's what I need now. Good landing, Monty."

"I did me best, pally," Monty answered. "'ey Gadget, I think we'll soon need a new TV, this one looks like it could burn out at any time. Or is it just me tired eyes that blur everything?"

Now Tammy spoke up and made herself be noticed. "I think that's what Bink wanted me to tell you, too. Hello, by the way."

"Hello, lasses," Monty greeted back. The other four Rangers just waved.

"Was it that bad?" LaWahini wanted to know, although she wasn't sure if she wanted to know the details.

Chip retold part of the past case. "Those kidnapped Bengal tigers weren't kidnapped. They referred to themselves as liberated. The best part is that their kidnappers, I mean liberators, wanted them to steal a saber with an emerald handle, and they were made believe that both them and the saber were to return to India. They didn't exactly cooperate with us if you know what I mean. Near the end, we got into a firefight. The museum's security tried to shoot the tigers with tranq ammo, and when the gangsters shot back, they aimed at them, too. And we were right in the middle, dodging bullets, tranq darts, and tiger claws."

"I wouldn't have minded a little nap," Dale commented, "or a bigger one."

Foxglove went and took her place next to Dale. "Awww, poor cutie." She wrapped him up in her wings like she always loved to. "I'm glad you're back safe and sound. Well, as safe and sound as the case allowed."

"By the way," Tammy mentioned, "we have a guest. He's at the infirmary now."

Despite her tiredness, Gadget's eyes went wide open. "At the infirmary? Golly, is he hurt? Oh, and of course, who is he?"

"He's actually surprisingly fine," Tammy informed her, "for someone whom we had rescued from the river not even half an hour ago. No sign of amnesia, he isn't injured either, he's just a bit wet. We don't really know who he is or where he's from, all we know is his first name. I take it you want to meet him."

"Can you take him here?" Chip requested. "I think that's easier for us than to go to the infirmary."

"Yes, I think we can. Heh, you guys look almost as if I'd have to carry you on a stretcher."

"I'll go get him!" LaWahini said and left the room, quickly enough for Tammy and Foxglove not to be able to react. She herself found what they called a crush on Edison totally overrated anyway.

She knocked on the door to the infirmary. "Eddy? Uh, Edison? Can I... can I come in?"

"Sure," she heard his voice, "door's open."

She opened the door. "The other Rangers are there, and they want to see you."

"Okay, I'm coming," Edison replied. "I'm going to meet the Rescue Rangers in a nightgown..."

"Come on," LaWahini said and motioned him to go through the door which she held open, "they're waiting for you. I'm sure they don't mind your unusual outfit under the given circumstances."

Edison went, and LaWahini went after him and kept looking up and down his athletic shape. The nightgown did little to conceal it, while it was almost too long for him, it was a bit tight. LaWahini kept herself from letting a sigh be heard.

At the end of his walk through a series of corridors which LaWahini didn't even expect to be familiar to him, Edison entered the main room. There they were. Monterey Jack, the rugged old adventurer who always loved to tell his tales to Edison and the others of his generation when they were kids. Zipper, his all-time best friend. Dale, Foxglove's husband, and father of some of Edison's friends. He wondered just for how long Dale has been wearing Hawaiian shirts. It was certainly not an age thing, he figured.

And then there was the blond mouse in the lavender coveralls. Edison felt his fur stand up. Gadget Beatrice Hackwrench. His aunt Gadget whom the older Rangers remembered as the team's genius. How well she was, in spite of her exhaustion, and how good she looked. He enjoyed her every move, and he was curious to hear her voice. 'I've really jumped back in time quite far, so much is clear, if Gadget is okay.'

But who was the chipmunk in the fedora hat, he wondered. Could that be...

"Hello and welcome to the Rescue Rangers Headquarters!" the chipmunk said. "My name is Chip Maplewood, and these are the Rescue Rangers."

This was Chip. Edison realized he shook hands with a chipmunk whom he had heard a lot of, but whom he had never met before. He felt a lump form inside his throat.


	3. The Past Is Present,And So Is The Future

**Chapter 3: The Past Is Present, And So Is The Future**

"I'm pleased to meet you, Chip," Edison managed to say. While all the others were a sort of big family for him, and two of them were actually his family, Chip was an almost entire stranger. Yes, Edison had been told many tales of past Rescue Rangers cases, most of them when he was a kid. And he did some research himself. When the Rangers had entered the computer age, they had established a database system for cases into which they had also fed many cases from years or even decades ago. Chip's name appeared in all of them as the bold, fearless leader who had dedicated himself to crime-fighting like hardly any other rodent before or after him—in all of them until a certain point in the past, not long before the computer was installed, but a few years before Edison was born. This certain point in the past was a case, a case as devastating for the Rangers as no other case had ever been before or after it. A case which had cost the Rangers two of their founding members.

As Edison held Chip's hand in his, he wished to retrieve his time machine, travel to that fateful point in time, and undo it all, no matter how. He could see that Chip was tired, but the eyes of the chipmunk in the fedora sparkled with eagerness.

"Can we help you in any way?" Chip offered.

Before Edison could say anything, also because he had to consider carefully what would be the right thing to say, Monterey Jack spoke up. "Chipper me lad," he said, "don't ya think we deserve a li'l timeout after that case marathon? Say, three or four days with nothin' but relaxin'?"

"An' the first half of it in bed?" Dale suggested.

"Y've 'eard 'im," Monty said, "'e's about ta pull a John an' Yoko with Foxy, only that 'e'd sleep through most of it."

"Well," Edison said, "the help I need is mostly technical. It'll most likely not require all of you."

Gadget smiled. "Golly, I think I'm the right mouse for it then. You others can go to sleep if you want."

Edison liked how everything began to fall into place. What he knew about Gadget had him judge that if there was any Ranger he could trust, it would be her. Besides, she would be able to provide the required technical knowledge. The other four original Rangers would head off to bed and not ask any questions he'd be uncomfortable to answer. There would only be the new Rangers he would have to steer clear of.

"Mind if I watch TV for a while?" Dale asked and turned on the television. It was okay for Edison, too, he knew how television could keep Dale distracted.

Slowly, the aging homebrew television set came to life, first the sound, then the picture. On the tube appeared the news anchorman Stan Blather. "Aww, boring news," Dale protested.

He was about to switch channels when Chip intervened. "Wait, leave it on! Maybe this is important for us!"

"Chipper," Monty reminded him, "hadn't we agreed on a long nap?"

"Can wait!" Chip exclaimed. "Has to wait!"

'They look like they've come from a whole series of cases,' Edison pondered, 'and Chip is about to drag them onto yet another case. How many cases in a row is that going to make?' He had a reason to be concerned, but decided against making it public for the moment.

Both Chip and Edison listened to Stan Blather's words. "...hour ago, burglars broke into yet another pawn shop and stole all gold items. It was the eighth burglary of that sort since yesterday evening. Apparently, the thieves don't even shy away from raiding open shops anymore. The police's work isn't exactly made easier by the fact that the burglars manage to get in and out of the shops absolutely unnoticed and leaving no traces whatsoever."

"Which leaves it up to us to solve this case again," Chip concluded, "as these have most likely not been human burglars."

Zipper suggested handing this case over to the Metropolitan Squirrel Squad if rodent criminals were involved.

"We can't be sure that they know about these burglaries already, and if they don't, when they will. We, however, know what happened, we know it now, so we're the ones who'll be the first to act."

"Can't we at least have breakfast first?" Dale almost begged. "Or lunch at least?"

"We'll be back before lunch," Chip said. "Promised. And now, Rescue Rangers, away!"

"Excuse me," Edison asked, "what about me? I'm in need of some help, too."

Gadget turned towards him, much to her sister's dismay. "Golly, yes, of course. Chip, can I stay here and help him?"

"We will be back before lunch," Chip repeated himself.

"But I might not have even that little time," Edison remarked.

Chip finally gave in. "Okay, Gadget, you can stay here and help our guest. But we might need someone to take your place. LaWahini, how about you?"

This displeased the former Hawaiian mousette even more. First, her own sister was to spend a lot of time with Edison, and now she was to join the Rangers on a spontaneous case. As eager as she was to work with the Rangers to make up for what she had done long ago, she still had a mind of her own, and that mind did not approve of this new situation. On the other hand, she wasn't looking forward to a debate with Chip right now, one she would probably lose anyway. "Well, okay, I'm with you." She put up a smile and waved at the others as she left.

Edison stood and watched the Rangers leave to solve yet another case. Something about this situation triggered something in his mind which started to work at high speed. He felt as though he had a déjà-vu, as if he had been through all this already. His subconsciousness urged him to speed things up. "Gadget," he said, "I appreciate your willingness to help me." He knew he would never speak to a relative that way, but he didn't want her to know that she was his aunt. "We've got a lot to do, and I would say we'd better start right now."

Gadget walked up to him. "What sort of help do you need, then?"

"First of all," Edison told her, "we must retrieve and fix the aircraft I came with."

"Golly, you've got your own aircraft?"

"Well, not really my own, but I came in it, and I need it to go back to where I came from." This much he could tell her without having to either lie or reveal too much about himself.

"In that case," Gadget said, "I think you need something more appropriate to wear than Sparky's nightgown."

Sparky suggested, "Maybe one of my lab coats? Your clothes are soaked wet."

"Oh, I don't think they're that wet anymore," Edison said. "I'll go and get them." He left and headed for the infirmary.

Tammy shook his head. "Does he really think he can put on his clothes already now? Maybe I should've examined him a bit more thoroughly, the head in particular."

"Oh," Sparky said, "Buzz told me the MIT is working on a fast-drying fabric. But I doubt it's freely available, let alone here."

"Fast-drying?" Bink shook her head. "It's been maybe half an hour since he's been fished out of the river. There's no way his clothes can dry that fast. I've seen them, you could've mopped all floors in the Headquarters with them, including the kitchen and the workshop."

"Don't question science," Sparky advised her, "for you'll never know what marvels scientists will come up with in the nearest future. Unless you've got a friend who can spy the laboratories, that is."

"You mean like that scramjet prototype Ultra-Flite presented two weeks ago? Gadget and I have seen it."

Gadget smiled. "Golly, I would have loved to take it on a test flight. Wouldn't you, too, Bink? Dad and I can arrange it."

Before Bink could answer, Edison entered the room again, wearing his usual outfit. "Okay," she said, "the clothes are dry." And indeed, all moisture had disappeared from them almost magically.

Sparky had to ask. "Say, can it be that you're testing that new fabric in development at the MIT?"

This wasn't the case, but Edison began to understand that clothes would not dry so quickly in this time. "Y-yes, that's this new fabric that dries significantly faster than anything else on the market." Chances were good that he was actually wearing the material that was being worked on up in Boston. At least he could not recall its becoming available for small animals. Not wishing to talk about this issue since he would have to make up a lot spontaneously, he addressed to Gadget again. "I'm ready to go, Gadget."

"Good," the inventor mousette replied. "Where do you think your aircraft might be?"

"On the East River, I think."

"Yes, that's where we found him," Foxglove confirmed.

"Well, in this case, you're lucky," Gadget said. "If your aircraft has ended up on the East River, the wind will have blown it onto the shores of Manhattan Island, given it can float. If it can't float, I'll need a submarine which I'd have to build first."

"I'm sure it can float," Edison said, "what makes me worry are the electronic systems which have gotten wet."

"Don't worry, we can dry and, if need be, repair them as long as you haven't got any too sophisticated integrated circuits or even microprocessors in there. Now come."

Edison followed her in a direction that would lead them to where he remembered the hangar. He wasn't sure about what the time machine was made of. But it was then that he realized that Gadget would soon find out who he really was when she discovered his aircraft, the Rangerwing. It was only little relief for him that it had to be her who had built it, so she would be capable of fixing it, considering even he didn't know all the upgrades that it had undergone. He had to think about the time machine again. Would Gadget be able to get it to work again? The next option he could think of was to take it to Norton Nimnul, break one of the unwritten laws of animaldom, ask him by speaking to him if he can repair that contraption, and provide this crazy scientist with a time-traveling device about a quarter century in advance when he would even be able to use it. No, this method was out of question for him.

Apart from that, he wondered how Gadget would react when she found the Rangerwing, and how she would then react upon his explanations. Not only would he have to reveal to her that he came from the future, but also where he had gotten the Rangerwing from in the first place. Although he had seen her so often, he never learned to know her as a person. In fact, he had only just learned that she had the same eye color as her sister, his mother LaWahini. It was strange for him to see her so lively and cheerful, even at her level of exhaustion. But in the context of his situation, he wished he could judge her character better than by what he had been told about her by the other Rangers of the first and second generation.

He was still pondering his situation and what was to become of it within the next minutes when the Rangerplane was already airborne. Now there was no way back anymore. Actually, this was his only possible way back into his own time, but involved Gadget finding out about this secret of his. He barely knew her, so all he could do was estimate how she might react and hope for the best. His only relief was that she had always been described as a scientist and an engineer, someone who didn't get too emotional. His mind went on spinning around his wicked situation until Gadget's voice called him back to reality.

"Golly... the Rangerwing..."

Before Edison could fully grasp the situation, Gadget sent the Rangerplane into a dive as rapid as the Rangerplane could do it. At the same time, her alarmed, wide open eyes quickly scanned the surroundings for any traces of her friends and her sister. Edison knew that she believed it was them who had crashed by the shore because she had just discovered the Rangerwing lying beside the river. She flew another fast round before she landed the Rangerplane and jumped overboard.

"Chip?" she shouted as she ran about, trying desperately to detect the slightest sign from her friends. "Dale! LaWahini!"

"Gadget! Wait!" Edison called her. "There's an explanation for this!"

Gadget stopped and turned around. "The Rangerwing crashed! How do you want to explain that?"

"Because I came here in it," Edison confessed. "This is the aircraft we have been searching for."

"But how... Edison, I didn't know you until not even one hour ago, and now you're trying to tell me the Rangerwing is your aircraft? What kind of game are you playing with me?"

Edison tried his best to both calm her down and convince her. "Gadget, if you don't believe me, please go to the Rangerwing, look inside, and tell me if you see anything that's out of the ordinary."

Gadget looked at Edison, then at the Rangerwing. She slowly began to move forward towards her invention. Edison just stood and watched her, so she went a little faster. She eventually stopped next to the Rangerwing. "Now go," Edison encouraged her. She finally took the last steps up the aircraft to see its inside.

What she saw could perfectly be described with Edison's words, "out of the ordinary," though. This was not what she had built, at least part of it wasn't. A rectangular screen had been mounted where most of the dashboard should be. The absence of many of the usual buttons and switches, together with the presence of fingerprints on the screen, told her it was a touch screen, but she had never seen one that was that small. This was clearly the Rangerwing, but at the same time, it was something that was partially clearly not her invention, something she doubted that the technology was even available at such a tiny scale, and if it was, where she could get it. Also, she was a mechanic mostly, so she doubted that she could have programmed a whole control system that would be necessary to pilot the Rangerwing in that state. She looked up and back at Edison again who was still patiently standing and watching whatever she did, but she didn't say anything because she didn't know what to say.

"What did you see?" Edison asked.

"I... don't know," Gadget answered, and this answer was honest. "You tell me. Edison, you owe me an explanation now."

"I guess I do, yes," Edison said as he came closer. "Gadget... I'm a time traveler."

"Wha... Edison, don't think you can fool me with a tale about science-fiction technology that is and will always remain impossible, and when I call something impossible, it's impossible all right, because..."

"Gadget," Edison interrupted her, "to be honest, I didn't believe in time travel either until... well, from my point of view, a good hour ago. Until a little something mounted in the back of the Rangerwing convinced me otherwise."

Gadget climbed to the Rangerwing's rear end. The once open battery compartment was closed with a hatch now. She had thought about installing one a few times herself, but she had never gotten to it. She opened the hatch and looked inside. At the bottom, there was something that could be a battery pack, probably rechargeable, she thought, and most likely more powerful than the three B cells which still powered the Rangerwing she was used to. Above it, a cylindrical silver object was mounted. She couldn't tell if it belonged there or not because she simply didn't know how this upgraded Rangerwing worked differently than the current one.

She replaced the hatch and turned back to Edison. "Okay, this Rangerwing here is not the same as the one I'm used to. For now, I shall accept what you said, namely that you're a time traveler, and I assume you would come from the future."

"That's right," Edison confirmed.

"But that still doesn't explain where you got the Rangerwing from. Did you steal it, and if you did, how?" A part of Gadget's mind took into consideration that Edison was indeed telling the truth, and in that case, she wanted herself and the other Rangers to be prepared for whatever was to happen to the Rangerwing.

Edison shook his head. "I didn't steal it, no. In fact, the reason why I came here in the Rangerwing of all aircraft possible in my time might appall you more than when I said I'm a time traveler."

"Just go ahead, speak up."

"I am your nephew, Gadget... Aunt Gadget."


	4. The Chance

**Chapter 4: The Chance**

Edison's reply sounded to Gadget like an even lamer excuse than his time-traveling tale. But he had tried to prove the latter at least, to render it as credible as rendering something that counted as impossible could get, and his most recent words he spoke just as seriously and seemed just as uneasy speaking them as though he knew pretty well that she would not believe him.

"Excuse me... you're..."

"Edison Hackwrench, your nephew, yes. You asked for an explanation as to how I got the Rangerwing, and this is it."

Gadget's mind tried to wrap itself around the name he had just told her. Edison Hackwrench. She knew her sister LaWahini would have to be his mother if he was her nephew, for she didn't have any other siblings, but one thing struck her as strange.

"Edison Hackwrench?" she repeated with an emphasis on his last name.

"Your sister LaWahini Hackwrench is my mother. You ought to be familiar with that name."

"But how come you've got your mother's last name?"

He flashed a faint smile. "Well, the thing is... Dad never had a last name of his own. They say it's normal for those who grew up in labs like him."

The description did fit one of the Rangers, but in the future, anything could be possible, Gadget reckoned. "Care to tell me who your father is?" she asked. "Or do I already know too much about the future? How far away a future is it, by the way?"

"Care to tell me," Edison quoted her, "where, I mean, when I am here? Which year it is?"

Gadget answered, "2007."

Within Edison's brain, things fell into their proper places like a puzzle, very much like a puzzle. The series of cases and the current one had already been suspicious, but now he had something close to rock solid proof, also because he had met nine Rangers. There had only been a short time in which there had been a Rescue Rangers team consisting of these nine. And on that day, he was absolutely certain, this time was about to come to an end.

Unless he could help it. Was it fate that directed him to this particular day?

He quickly changed his mind and demanded Gadget to do the same. "Let's quit chatting, Gadget, and get this thing here back going."

"Golly, Edison, where does that sudden change of mind come from? I mean, you've got a time machine, you can get yourself as much time as you want!"

"See, the electronic systems don't get any better when the Rangerwing is lying here in the open and half in the water, right?" It wasn't his true reason, but it was a reason, and it was one that the Gadget he had been told about would understand and act accordingly to.

A few moments later, the Rangerwing was securely attached to the Rangerplane. Gadget had done this on several occasions with her own instance of the Rangerwing before, and the outer shape had not changed in what she estimated to be another 25 years, so tying it under the dirigible with the help of the suction cups on the landing gear was a breeze.

Gadget noticed that something kept Edison busy, maybe even worried him. She tried to distract him. "Say, Edison, do you still use the Rangerplane in your time?"

This was a question that Edison could not answer in detail. They did still have the Rangerplane, but it was stored and rarely taken out for a flight because it was so much different to work on than the several aircraft made during the 21st century, its original maintainer was not available anymore, and thus it was difficult to maintain and considered almost impossible to repair, should it be damaged. "Hardly," he finally said. "Only on special occasions." It was close to the truth at least.

"You're not very talkative about the future, are you?" Gadget said. "I can understand it, it's often said in time-travel stories that knowing too much about your future isn't good, but how about the technological progress? Other than your clothes and the upgrades I've seen on the Rangerwing..." She stopped when she realized something. "Golly, the Rangerwing! What if the others come back and find your Rangerwing at the Headquarters? We need to hide it!"

"They won't be back so soon... I-I believe." Edison had almost given something away which he wasn't sure if he should keep it secret anymore. "You know what it's like when you go on a case and it takes much longer than expected."

"Edison," Gadget inquired, "do you know something about this case that I don't know?"

Edison had to think up something quickly. "Uh, of course I do. See, many old cases have been written down and archived as thoroughly as the Rangers could in retrospect so that new generations could learn from them, and so that the Rangers themselves could dig them up if necessary. And this is a case I remember well, that is, having read about it. It will take longer. I cannot tell you more about it, though."

"I see." Gadget felt like she had to have something to talk about with him, otherwise she would catch his apparent unease. "Would you like to tell me how you came here?"

"Okay," Edison agreed, "but remember to keep everything to yourself. Nobody but you and me knows who I am and where I'm from."

Gadget smiled. "Promised."

"Well, it all started two weeks after Norton Nimnul's death."

"Gee willikers, Professor Nimnul died?"

"He had grown old. He had always denied it and tried his best to ignore it, but he had grown old. He was well into his 90s, I'm surprised he lived that long, considering what he had done in his life. And one day, his age simply had gotten the better of him. He had been shopping in disguise, even mad scientists have to get their groceries every now and then, and he simply broke down in the middle of the store. An EMT was called, but they found him already devoid of life, and since he was obviously disguised, the police were called, too, and identified him as Professor Norton Nimnul. Naturally, they searched the city for his current lair. It was a sort of underground bunker this time, and the Rangers found it before them and gave them a few hints, but the tough part was getting past his security. They found out later that he could deactivate it with his cell phone, but that required a code which he had taken with him into his grave, so they had to crack their way through the systems which was a task of several days. We got in there more quickly and eventually decided to let the police enter and investigate after we had finished our own investigation.

"The most intriguing thing we discovered was that he had single-handedly managed to invent a time machine, at least that was what he had claimed in his notes. And if there was something the Rangers had learned about Nimnul over the decades, it was that his inventions were never total failures or mere mock-ups, so there had to be at least some truth in his claim. The time drive itself was as small as a battery but, given enough energy, able to move any vehicle through time into both directions. Nimnul's blueprints and notes stated that a 24V truck battery would be sufficient for a compact car, only the voltage would have to be adjusted. He had truly crazy plans with this little device, crazy but somehow understandable. He wanted to first travel into the future to gather whatever would extend his life or slow down his aging and then go back into his own past with some vital information about the time in between that would make him extremely powerful, if not downright invincible.

"We decided to test if this invention of his really worked as designed and took it with us. If it didn't work, we would return to where we had found it and leave it to the FBI or whoever would take care of it. But if did work, so we decided, it would be safest if we let it disappear altogether before it fell into the wrong hands. The notes, the blueprints, the device itself, everything. So... Sparky installed it on the old Rangerwing and patched it into the controls so that the temporal data could be entered on the touchscreen. He insisted that it would work while I was skeptical. It was clear from then on that I was to perform a test flight.

"I learned two things on that flight. One was that this so-called time machine worked darn well. And the other was not to do a time jump where the airspace might be occupied in the time one was about to jump into. I got hit by a helicopter a few seconds after the jump and knocked out cold. The next thing I remember is that I woke up at the Headquarters."

Gadget had to grin. "Your story sounds like from a movie, Edison. I would have expected a small nuclear reactor to be necessary for an automobile."

"Yes," Edison said, "these were my thoughts, too." They both had to laugh.

"Of course, that doesn't mean it sounds less believable than what I've seen and been told so far," Gadget said. "I'm still willing to help you."

With its precious load underneath, the Rangerplane flapped back to the tree the Rescue Rangers called home. Gadget approached it from a side where it could not be seen from any main room window, and she steered it to the platform in front of the hangar as closely to the trunk as she could. She was well aware that someone might still be there, and she didn't want anyone to see the Rangerwing.

She let the Rangerplane hover above the platform and told Edison, "Get out and untie the Rangerwing so I can land!"

"Roger," Edison confirmed and climbed past the Rangerplane's still oscillating wings down onto the platform. He removed the yarn threads which held the Rangerwing in place and let it drop the small height that had separated it from the wooden surface underneath. The Rangerplane reacted upon the loss of its payload with a slight vertical climb, and Gadget directed it backwards to touch down behind the Rangerwing.

Edison had meanwhile begun to push the Rangerwing into the still open hangar. Gadget blocked the Rangerplane's clockwork drive and joined him. "Well, let's see what needs to be fixed," she said, opened the hatch in the back, and removed and examined the battery pack. "Doesn't look like any water got in there."

"No, the batteries are sealed," Edison said, "as is the time device as far as I could see."

"They might still need recharging, they might have been short-circuited when the Rangerwing fell into the water as that hatch isn't watertight." She showed him the unprotected connectors. "Well, at least the voltage remained the same," she said with a glance onto the label on the side of the battery pack, "so I might be able to recharge them here."

"They're batteries of a type available today, we've just got much faster chargers in my time. There's one built into the Rangerwing, you just need to plug it in."

"If it still works." Gadget crawled into the back of the Rangerwing where the batteries used to be to examine the circuit board underneath the seats. "Golly," Edison heard her from inside the fuselage, "there's also the protection lid for the electronics I always wanted to install. I finally installed it apparently, that is, I will have installed it."

All Edison could say was, "Well..."

"But it must have opened up when the Rangerwing crashed, and the circuit board got wet. A real etched circuit board... I never got to make one yet. This one has even got standard connectors. I guess it can be removed..." A few snapping sounds followed before she continued, "...easily," holding the unmounted board in her hands. "Get yourself some tissues and help me dry it, Edison."

Edison went and fetched the small custom-made box of paper tissues that was standing in one corner of the hangar. He and Gadget took out a few and began to remove the moisture from the circuit board, taking care of remaining minerals and dirt as well. While she wiped the board and the parts on it with care, he did it hastily, and she noticed that he looked up to the watch mounted in the hangar as a wall clock.

"Edison, what's up? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"I... we've got little time," Edison answered.

"Golly, does the time machine have a pre-programmed return time? You could have said that earlier, Edison!"

"Uh, no... it's... I don't know if I can talk about it..." Now he himself felt that he couldn't hide his unease from Gadget anymore. He looked into her blue eyes which, to his surprise, showed that what she felt was sorrow. She wasn't supposed to be with him. She was supposed to be out on that fateful case. A case that only Edison could prevent from failing so terribly because only he knew what was going to happen. But he also knew that he couldn't do much without Gadget's help. He realized that he would have to tell her the whole truth sooner or later. He looked at the wall clock again and decided he had to tell her rather sooner than later.

He took a deep breath. "I have to talk about it, though. I have to tell you."

"Have to tell me what?"

"I need to rescue your friends. And I've got only little time to rescue them. It's hard for me to talk about it with you, but I'm going to need your help."

By then, Gadget was fully aware that when Edison mentioned future events, he was serious, and he said the truth. "You mean they'll get into a situation..."

"...from which they won't be able to save themselves."

Gadget got up from the floor she and Edison were sitting on. "Edison, what is going to happen to my friends?"

"Something that requires my plane to be running within an hour and a half. And it'll take most of that time to recharge."

"But I can't guarantee it'll be running by then! I don't know if I can get the batteries recharged that fast, let alone if the electronic controls still work! Can't we—"

Edison got up, too, and interrupted her. "Gadget, Chip is gonna be killed in exactly two hours! I see I haven't got a choice, I need to tell you what's gonna happen in all details. Chip and the others are out to meet Rat Capone and his gang, and if the old case records are true, Rat Capone is one of the cruelest animal gangsters in the whole city. There's gonna be a showdown on the roof of the building he is just about to rob in these minutes. The Rangers will try to stop him, there'll be some fighting, and in the end..."

Gadget went pale. "He'll finish him off?"

"Mousenegger will finish him off by throwing him off the roof. And in the version I heard, Sugar Ray Lizard would do the same with you, Gadget. You would survive, but you'd fall into a coma I'd have yet to see you wake up from if I were in my time."

"Well, at least I am safe now. I won't meet Rat Capone and his gang, for I'm here fixing your Rangerwing." She turned her head to the open hangar door. "But Chip is going to die... Edison, it's my duty to rescue him as it is yours. I have to thank you for telling me about this case. Still, this circuit board will have to dry properly before it can be reconnected."

She had an idea. "Edison, we've got as much time as we need! We can get the Rangerwing and the time machine back running, jump back in time, and mount a rescue operation for my friends... No," she shook her head, "I couldn't stand the thought of Chip dying, even if I could go back in time and save him then."

"Besides that, there might be another reason why we can't go back from later today," Edison pointed out. "LaWahini, my mother, is out there instead of you. What if Capone confuses her with you and has her tossed into her doom?"

"Golly, you wouldn't even come to exist!"

"If this happens," Edison explained, "I might vanish from history in two hours, simply go poof or dissolve or whatever, then there would be no-one who could tell you how to work the time machine, and it would irreversibly be too late for you to rescue your beloved ones."

"Okay, okay, you said it'd take your Rangerwing half an hour to fly there?"

"Yes, but if you say it won't be working until..."

"And how much faster is it than the Rangerplane?"

"Dunno... three or four times, why?"

Gadget shoved the circuit board into Edison's hands. "Put this behind the Gyrotank transport chassis, block the wheels, connect the dryer to the wall socket near it, and turn it on. I'm gonna get your battery in my workshop and recharge it with my own charger. And then we'll take the Rangerplane, save Chip and LaWahini, and fix our future and your past!"

"The Rangerplane?"

"We can't take the Rangerwing anyway, even if it was working," Gadget said. "They've already got one Rangerwing there, our Rangerwing. I don't want them to see yours, let alone all the future tech. Now go, time is running!"


	5. In Time

**Chapter 5: In Time**

Slowly but steadily, the Rescue Rangers made it up the stairs to the roof of the old building with the pawn shop in it. They had seen the burglars escape into the elevator and up to the top floor and followed them. The burglars were small animals, but the Rangers had no chance to identify them yet. All they knew was that the crooks had proceeded to the very top of the house. Without a second elevator to catch, they had to take the stairs up five floors, and without the six cases without a break before this one, it would have been a much easier way for them. LaWahini was the least exhausted as she had joined the team as a replacement for her sister just for this case, so she was the first up stairs. Still, she had to wait for Chip who could barely keep up with her, although he had enough determination to give him some extra strength. But even Zipper felt his increasing lack of power as he flew upstairs.

Chip climbed up the last step. He saw LaWahini standing near the edge of the half-open door. "LaWahini," he said between wheezing, "who are we dealing with?"

LaWahini went and helped up the chipmunk who tried hard to catch his breath. "Chip, is this out there Rat Capone? He's looking like Francis and Allan."

Chip took a peek. "Yes, it's him." He watched Arnold Mousenegger, Capone's personal muscle rat, tie a bundle with an obviously heavy content to a kite which was held down on the roof by the weight of the bundle itself that was lying upon it. "And they're about to escape with what I think is their prey. Rescue Rangers..."

"Chip, are you sure you should do that?"

"...away! LaWahini, Zipper, come with me, we're gonna start, backup is on their way." With these words, Chip dragged himself through the gap between the door and the frame. "Capone," he shouted, "we won't let you get away with this!"

Rat Capone just grinned. "Ah, da Rescue Rangers! Why don't you'se come closer so I don't have ta shout? Arnold, Sugar Ray, git 'em!"

"Run!" Chip yelled out.

"Where?!" LaWahini asked. Before she could expect a reply from Chip, however, he was gone. She herself had no time to decide where to run because she was immediately pounced upon by Sugar Ray Lizard from behind and pinned down on the surface of the roof. "Chip," she cried, "help me!"

The chipmunk had no time to help her, though. All he could think of was running and searching for a way to escape the rat chasing him. And he had to find one quickly. He wasn't in the right condition for a chase. Six and a half cases in a row and multiple days of crime-fighting with no break, let alone sleep, were getting the better of him. He was giving all he got, and yet, it wasn't enough, Mousenegger closed up rapidly.

Then he spotted something. A pipe was lying on the ground near the stairs. It had a diameter big enough for him to fit through it and long enough for Mousenegger not to be able to reach him. He would simply slip inside, pretend he'd come out on the other side, and then turn around and hope to put some distance between himself and the rat and buy some time before Dale and Monty would arrive. Even Zipper was nowhere to be seen. He probably saved the rest of his power for a case of emergency, or he had flown back down the stairs to alert the other Rangers.

Chip had almost reached the pipe when Mousenegger had come close enough to reach out for him. He evaded the rat's grasp when he dove down into the pipe and slipped inside, but he didn't get far, it was as if his jacket had gotten stuck somewhere. In fact, he got pulled back out of the pipe. He didn't have enough space around himself to get out of the jacket quickly, and pressing his paws against the inside of the pipe didn't work either. Mousenegger had him.

LaWahini was still lying flat on the ground. She looked up and into Rat Capone's grinning face. "Come on, Sugar Ray," he said, "where ah your manners? Nobody ever taught ya how ta treat a lady properly?"

Sugar Ray Lizard let her get up, but held her firmly by the back of her dress. Capone came closer. "As I can see, a certain lady improved her dress code an' put on some make-up. I don't know how ya do it, but ya look like ya don't age at all." He placed a finger under her chin. "Take dis as a compliment, mousie."

The blond mouse almost pierced him with her looks. "Listen, Capone. First, I'm not your mousie. Second, you're confusing me with my sister. Third, she's not your mousie either. And fourth, you know where you can shove your compliment?"

Rat Capone liked ladies who were not all too nice and sweet and who showed some temperament. Still, he preferred them to obey him, and this one certainly did not shy away from confrontation with whomever. He even imagined himself on top of a criminal empire and her overthrowing him. She was a looker, and she was a bad girl, but she was too bad even for his liking. "Well, if it's like dat, dispose of her!" He pointed at Chip whom Mousenegger held up. "And him, too!"

The remaining two Rangers finally arrived on the roof. Dale and Monty heaved themselves up the last step and leaned against the open door to catch some breath. From there they saw what was going on, how Arnold Mousenegger and Sugar Ray Lizard carried their friends to the edge of the roof, LaWahini protesting loudly and making futile attempts at freeing herself, and Chip quietly awaiting his fate.

"Stand where y'are," Monty threatened them, "otherwise..."

Chip and LaWahini turned and saw him clench his right fist while still holding on to the door with his left hand. They didn't see much of a chance for him to rescue them, though.

"Udderwise what?" Rat Capone said. He held out his arms to both sides and turned his thumbs down, signalling his henchmen to complete their task. So they did—they threw Chip and LaWahini off the roof.

Monty watched it happen. This was enough for him. "You... monster!" he shouted. No matter how exhausted he was, no matter how long it had been since he could take a rest, his anger gave him new energy. He had come too late to rescue his friends, but there was still time left for payback. In his mind, he switched back from the Rescue Ranger to the adventurer and bush fighter he used to be, someone who would not shy away from vengeance.

On their way down, LaWahini asked Chip, "You still think it was such a good idea to drag your worn-out friends into this case?"

"What else should I have done?" Chip asked back.

"I can tell you what you should do now." LaWahini pointed downwards. The edge of an open dumpster was right below them. "Prepare for a very hard and painful landing."

Only a few feet and a few seconds of falling separated them from the impact. Suddenly, however, something hit them on their backs, and they both swung out of their ballistic curves, away from the wall, and along the alley.

LaWahini looked up and saw the Rangerplane. One of the detachable suction cups on the landing gear had connected with her back, and the other one had caught Chip. "Reel them in," she heard her own sister's voice from above, and both she and Chip shot upwards again. As soon as they had reached the Rangerplane, the suction cups let them go again, and they landed on the wings which flipped them onto the backseat.

Chip came to sit behind Gadget, and the next thing he knew was that he found himself tightly hugged by his beloved mouse. He heard her sob quietly, so he gently stroked her back. But why did she cry if she had only just found him falling down the building? And why had she been there at all?

After Gadget released him, he could see Edison on the passenger's seat, held tightly by LaWahini. The reason for Edison's presence in this situation was even harder to figure out. "Edison," he asked, "what are you doing here?"

Edison explained, "Gadget had the idea to go and see whether you needed her help. Since I didn't need her assistance anymore, she had the time as well, and she knew where you were from the news. And I asked her if I should tag along. Turned out it was a good idea, huh?"

"A very good idea," LaWahini said and smiled coyly at the young mouse. "Now, Gadget, will you fly us back to that rooftop? I've got a thing or two to sort out with a certain rat."

"A certain rat?"

"Capone. If he's still there, that is. He was just about to escape."

"Okay, here we go!" Gadget said and turned the Rangerplane around. "And greet him from me, too!"

When they arrived on top of the building, they found a quiet, almost peaceful scene. Rat Capone and his goons were still there, scattered all over the roof and knocked out. Monterey Jack was lying flat on his belly and watching the Rangerplane arrive. Dale and Zipper were leaning against him.

"Yer still alive," he noted as he saw his friends climb out of the plane.

"What happened to the crooks?" LaWahini asked.

"I gave 'em a li'l demonstration o' th' Kangaroo Style," Monty answered. "There's always a bit of energy left in me fer th' Kangaroo Style."

"Kangaroo Style?"

"He means boxing," Dale answered.

"Golly, do you need anything?" Gadget asked.

Monty stretched out his arms. "Me 'ammock would be nice. An' somethin' ta 'ang it up on." He got up and caused Dale and Zipper to fall over. "But first, there's loot ta take ta th' police an' a gang ta teach 'ow ta fly. Can someone 'elp me drag 'em to th' kite? Gadget, Edison, will ya lend us a 'and, too?"

"Sorry," Edison said, "but we're in a hurry, we have to return to the Rescue Ranger Headquarters." He tugged on Gadget's arm to make clear he was serious. She had no other choice than to follow him.

"Edison," Gadget demanded clarification, "what's so urgent to do that we couldn't help them?"

"My Rangerwing has to be taken out of the hangar and hidden before they're back and find it. And you might want to hide the battery as well while it's charging. We're safe as long as they're busy."

"And what about the others? Sparky, Tammy, Foxy..."

As soon as Gadget had spoken her name, the red bat came fluttering from ahead. When she saw the Rangerplane, she turned and flew alongside. "Hi Gadget, hi Edison," she greeted the two mice, "is this the way to Dale and the others?"

"Yes," Gadget confirmed, "why?"

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure they're okay."

Gadget smiled. "We've been there, they are okay, and they may need your help."

"Thank you! See you later when we take your mother to the zoo!" Foxy changed course again and continued on her way.

"If I'm still awake then," Gadget commented to herself.


	6. Safe Return

**Chapter 6: Safe Return**

After another one and a half hours of flight, the Rangerplane was back in the familiar part of the park surrounding the big oak tree. Gadget and Edison had nothing to hide this time, no contraption not to be seen tied to the aircraft, and no reason to keep their flight secret. By the roots of the tree, Gadget spotted two squirrels with a box which would have been small for a human, but which was too large for two squirrels to climb up the tree with it. "Good," she said, "Tammy and Bink haven't been here most of the time either."

"What if they see my Rangerwing when we get it out of the hangar?" Edison worried.

"Don't worry, I'll keep them busy. But I think they could use our help now." Gadget steered the Rangerplane to the ground and called them. "Tammy, Bink, do you want to fly with us?"

"Of course!" Bink replied. Together with her sister, she carried the box to the Rangerplane and placed it on the backseat. Unfortunately, the box turned out to be so big that it took up the whole seat. "And what now?"

"We can still climb up the tree," Tammy suggested, "and go in through the hangar."

"Oh, no, no," Gadget said, "hang on to the balloon straps, and I'll have you up the tree in a jiffy."

Tammy and Bink took one strap each and held them as if they were surfing on the fuselage, and the Rangerplane took off again.

The two squirrels didn't say a word, so Gadget figured they hadn't taken a peek into the hangar yet. She directed the plane upward in a spiral in front of the main platform so it would stay that way. She and Edison had left the hangar door open when they had departed for the rescue mission, so she had to avoid flying anywhere from where anyone could see what was in the hangar. "Care to tell me what's in the box?" she asked.

Tammy answered, "Stuff for the infirmary mostly. Today was the first time we needed it, and lots of things came to my mind that were still missing."

"It was probably not the last time, not even today," Bink said, "what with that case marathon. That is, what our friends will most probably need when they're back is a good cup of black coffee."

"You want them to go on yet another case?"

"No, I want them to stay awake at least through lunch."

"By the way," Gadget suggested as the Rangerplane landed at the front door, "how about you two making lunch for us all today? Including you, Edison?"

"Agreed," Tammy said. "We're probably among the few who are still able to do that anyway."

"We'll just get the box into the infirmary," Bink said, "and then the kitchen's gonna be ours."

Everyone got off the plane, and Gadget opened the front door for the two squirrel sisters with the heavy box. She watched them head for the infirmary. "That ought to keep them busy."

Then she took a breath and mobilized some extra energy. "And now for you and your Rangerwing. Come with me!" she said before she ran to the periscope installed in one of the outside walls, Edison following her, and looked through it. "No Rangerwing in sight, they might still be... Golly, there they are, still far away, but they'll be here in a few minutes!" She turned to Edison. "Can you put the circuit board back in yourself?"

"Yes, I think..."

"Good, do that while I get your battery. And hurry up, we have to get your plane outta here as fast as possible!"

Before Edison could say something, she ran away again. "Well," he said, "if time's that tight..." and raced into the hangar. He turned off the hairdryer, took the circuit board, and shoved it into the Rangerwing.

He had only just put the small lid back in place when Gadget came in, carrying the battery above her head. "Step aside!" she shouted. Edison jumped backwards and out of the Rangerwing just in time before Gadget tossed the battery in. "Everything connected?" she asked.

"Check," he answered.

"Then get on board and fly the Rangerwing into the bushes! The battery's at 87%, I hope that's enough, but we can't charge it any longer. Stay close to the trunk until you're a few inches above the ground, and then fly straight on. The others will most likely not see you then."

"Roger!" Edison confirmed and climbed aboard. Gadget closed the rear hatch while the two motors spun up, and the Rangerwing took off and flew out of the hangar. Edison waved at her before it went into a steep dive down the tree. She ran outside onto the platform and saw him speed along barely airborne and finally disappear underneath a row of bushes nearby.

Mere moments later, another Rangerwing came flying in from the other side of the tree. On the backseat, Monty, Zipper, and Dale were sleeping. Dale was wrapped up in Foxglove's wings like in a pair of blankets. LaWahini on the right front seat was busy poking and shaking Chip so he wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel, too, while piloting the Rangerwing. It nearly missed the platform, causing Gadget to jump aside, but eventually found its way home and skidded to a halt inside the hangar. Gadget followed it and saw how everyone was.

LaWahini was the first to get off the plane. "Another one of these days when I wish I could fly a plane, too. Gadget, help me get those sleepyheads inside. And then fix us some coffee, the sort that you always have and Tammy warns us about."

Chip was meanwhile sleeping, too. Gadget lifted him off the pilot's seat and laid him over her shoulder. "Uhm, Tammy and Bink are occupying the kitchen and making us lunch. I can't just get in there with the excuse that I'm making all that coffee for myself."

"Good," Foxglove said while flying through the hangar and carrying Dale by the sleeve of his shirt, "then she'll understand that we need to keep the guys alive, otherwise they won't be awake for lunch and go to bed hungry. She keeps warning us about that, too, remember?"

"Okay, I'm on my way. Maybe one of the sisters can help us with Monty."

Gadget opened the door which separated the hangar from the rest of the Headquarters, and into the hangar wavered a scent of Cheddar. Tammy and Bink seemed to have caught the occasional recipe from Monty who, while still lying on the Rangerwing's backseat, attracted the cloud of cheese odor and inhaled it. The first to wake up was his subconsciousness, followed by his consciousness and finally the rest of the mouse.

"Chhhhhhhhheeeeeeezzzzze," he went, stood up, took a step to the side, fell out of the plane and onto the floor, got up again, and stomped past Gadget and Chip into the Headquarters where the smell came from. Zipper woke up from the commotion, too, and flew after his old buddy.

LaWahini shrugged. "Well, one less mouse to carry."

She helped Foxglove carry Dale as they left the hangar, followed by Gadget who was still carrying Chip. Together, they went to the dining room and sat down the two sleeping chipmunks at the table where Monty was already sitting. The Australian mouse yawned and said, "I think I'll 'ave th' cheese come ta me rather than go get th' cheese meself this time."

"Okay, time for some coffee," Gadget said after yawning herself. "LaWahini, go find Sparky, maybe he's in his lab." She watched her twin walk off and smiled, knowing something that her sister didn't know yet, before she went into the kitchen. "Bink," she ordered, "the team is back, and we need coffee. The strong one. Otherwise they'll sleep through lunch."

Before Tammy could complain, she was gone again, heading back to the hangar platform. Edison wasn't back yet. She looked around to see if he was somewhere in the park, maybe on his way back to the tree. But he was nowhere to be seen. She wondered if he had already gone home.

But Edison was not gone yet. He was sitting on the pilot's seat of his Rangerwing and thinking about what to do now. He could simply turn on the time machine and jump back. The bushes were gone in his time, there was a big stretch of lawn and nothing to collide with. He could reprogram the return time to the night after he had left, so chances would be few that he would hit someone or something that would happen to stand in his way. No more messing with the past. Besides, the way his mother looked at him gave him the creeps.

He turned towards the tree which he was still able to see in his hiding. On the other hand, the Rangers had been nice and helpful, and he had done a lot for them, too, even if only Gadget knew all about it. He saw someone on the platform in front of the hangar. It was Gadget. She would not be there if he hadn't been. He took a deep breath, got up again, and walked back to the tree.

Gadget discovered him and waved her arms. "Here, Edison," she called him, "here I am!"

He climbed up the tree, and she helped him up the last few inches to the platform. "I thought you were already gone. We wanted you to at least have lunch with us after all we've been through today." They went back inside together where another scent announced that Bink was serving a fresh steaming hot concoction to keep the Rangers awake or wake some of them up.

After lunch, however, it was time for Edison to go. He got up from the table around which the Rangers, some of them awake with the support of caffeine, sat and spoke to them. "Rescue Rangers, I must say that this was a very eventful day, and I appreciate and I'm very grateful for what you've done for me. But I'm afraid I have to leave again. I have somewhere to return to."

"Well," Chip said and suppressed a yawn, "we won't hold you back if you have to go."

LaWahini asked, "Will we meet again sometime?"

"We will," Edison said, "I promise you we will." He knew they would, but he couldn't tell her under which circumstances they would meet again.

"Edison," Gadget offered, "I'd like to accompany you to the door before you leave."

"Okay," Edison agreed. The others sat and watched as the two mice walked back to the hangar.

They stopped out on the platform, and Gadget gave Edison a hug. "Thank you," she said. "It's me who has to thank you for what you did today. You saved my Chip, you saved my sister, and you saved me."

Edison just held her, after all, she was his aunt. "It was my duty to do that, Gadget. Not only because I had to save myself, but because I had the once-in-a-lifetime chance to fix the one case in the history of the Rescue Rangers with severe casualties and the loss of two Rangers. And I guess I succeeded."

Gadget smiled at him. "So you did, Edison. The Rescue Rangers have had their share of luck helping them in many of their cases, but I don't think we've ever had as much luck as what sent you back in time. Say, where are you going to return into your time? Right next to the tree?"

Edison went to the edge of the platform. "There's a subway station not far from here that will be closed a few weeks before we find Nimnul's time machine. I'm going to fly there, enter through an air duct, and jump behind a train where nobody will notice me. In my time, the station will be empty, so there will be no risk of collision."

Gadget was still smiling. "Good to hear you've got your safe return planned. Well, see you later... or so."

"Yes," Edison replied, "in a couple of decades." With a grin, he added, "Unless another case takes me back into the past. Oh, and try to catch some sleep now, you and the other Rangers." He waved and climbed down the tree. Gadget stood and watched him until he had disappeared under the bush, then she waited for the Rangerwing to take off and watched it fly away before she went back inside.

The subway station was soon reached. Edison stopped the Rangerwing in front of the air duct which was covered with a detachable grille and switched to hover mode. He used the grappling arm which was still mounted in the bottom of the fuselage to remove it and replaced it after he had steered the aircraft inside. The air duct was easily wide enough to fly through, and it didn't take him long to enter the station itself. A train had just arrived on one track, so there was no need to hide and wait for one. Instead, Edison flew the Rangerwing over the car roofs and to the end where he turned around and hovered a few inches underneath the rooftop. He was now hovering in the exit of the tunnel itself, and he had gotten there just in time before the train started to accelerate.

"Here goes nothing," he said to himself and tapped the touch screen.

His surroundings flashed, and a moment later, he found himself hovering in the same place, only that the station had been abandoned not long ago. The lights had all been shut down with the exception of a few signals, so he was surrounded by an eerie red light and otherwise almost complete darkness. He was about to turn the massive headlight on the Rangerwing on when he discovered a single small light on one of the platforms where he was certain that none should be. To be able to see anything himself, he activated the headlight and flew down onto the platform where he landed.

The source of the tiny light stepped into the powerful beam emitted from the bow of the Rangerwing. It was Gadget. She was alive, she was okay, and she stood and smiled at Edison like she had done only a few minutes or many years ago. Above all, however, she was still as beautiful as when Edison saw her the last time. She held a small LED torch which Edison identified as his own.

And for the first time in his own epoch, Gadget spoke to him. "Welcome back home, Edison."

**The End**


End file.
